This Midwest city has long been a federal hub. Doge’s pain of cutting is everywhere
Kansas City, Mo. (AP) – Shea Giagnorio has worked for the federal government for 28 years, providing daycare for children of U.S. soldiers, oversight of staff training and safety net programs.
Public Service took her from Germany to Alaska to Kansas City, Missouri, and last year she moved to a long-standing promotion.
But her access card didn’t work when she reported her work to the downtown federal building one day last month. After a colleague let her into the building, she checked the email: the latest mass dismissal ordered by President Donald Trump, her entire office was released.
The 46-year-old single mom canceled her apartment rental and is selling her new furniture and may have to kick her daughter out of college. She wants to know what her team is doing for the at-risk population in the children and family government as part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
“Not only me, but all of these people’s lives have been turned upside down,” said Guininorio.
The impact of Trump appointees and Elon Musk’s reduction in administration efficiency can be found throughout the metropolitan area of Kansas City, which has long been a major hub for federal agencies about 1,000 miles from Washington, once expected to provide the area with other programs for public health, environment, diversity, diversity, food, diet and other programs, as well as work elsewhere.
With nearly 30,000 workers, the federal government is the largest employer in the region. A longtime Kansas City economic researcher said he believes the region could lose 6,000 highly paid federal jobs, which would eliminate thousands of other jobs in the service industry.
A worker at the IRS said thousands of colleagues were worried that they would lose their jobs, even if they would work overtime to process refunds in a building so crowded that it was difficult to find a table. Under pressure, hundreds of people agreed to retire early or make acquisitions last week.
“It’s a one-man effort for people who are doing everything they need,” said Shannon Ellis, a long-time customer service representative and union president of the IRS.
By Thursday, at least 238 Kansas City workers have acquired the offer and are expected to leave the agency in the coming weeks. Ellis noted that many of the same workers were told they were essential and needed to work overtime during the tax season, about seven days a week.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture granted the revocation undermines a plan for a historically black community that expanded plans to grow fresh produce in food deserts. Nearby food pantry cuts to cuts to food banks in the wake of federal cuts.
Last year, urban farmer Rosie Warren planted 2,500 pounds of fruit and vegetables in community gardens last year to help feed the Ivanhoe community, where many black families are concentrated under housing quarantine policies for most of the 20th century.
Warren harvested greens, potatoes and watermelons, part of addressing food insecurity and health issues in communities facing challenges of blight, crime and poverty. She was ecstatic last fall when the USDA awarded the Neighborhood Council a three-year, $130,000 grant to expand the gardens and farmers markets serving the area.
In February, the Council received a notice of termination of the grant. The USDA has identified “no priorities for agents of diversity, equity and inclusion programs and activities.”
“What if you don’t support the opportunity to provide food to people without food? Wouldn’t that make your job easier?” she said. “I think it’s ridiculous. It doesn’t make any sense.”
Withdrawal of federal funds for new laboratory equipment and vaccines means the city may not be very prepared for the next pandemic.
The Kansas City Health Department’s labs are in great need of upgrades, with equipment dating back to the 1990s building opening.
A basement space is damaged and rarely used. Another device was not enough for the city to have to ship samples to a state lab 150 miles away, resulting in inefficiency, painfully waiting for results and delaying response times.
But funding for lab upgrades was suddenly cancelled last month as part of a $11.4 billion federal grant to the Trump administration for canceling federal public health.
A HHS spokesman said the agency’s downsizing, including layoffs and mergers, could save money and improve organizational efficiency. As for the $11.4 billion grant cut, the spokesman said, “HHS will no longer waste billions of taxpayer dollars in response to the non-existent pandemic that Americans continued to do several years ago.”
The IRS also provided a similar reason for its downsizing, saying it is improving the process and will eventually serve the public more effectively.
Musk said last year that Trump’s budget cuts would cause “temporary hardship” that would soon make the economy stronger.
It is unclear how deep the hardships in Kansas City will be, including whether it will slow growth or cause population losses, a local economic researcher said.
“It’s a huge burden,” said Frank Lenk, director of the Office of Economic Development, a nonprofit and county government nonprofit in the urban area of Kansas. “It’s certainly going to make some of the momentum in the local economy go away.”
Trump believes Doge helped end “blatant waste of taxpayers’ money” and saved billions of dollars to help improve the country’s financial situation.
The White House did not answer questions about Kansas City. But Trump recently said he would invite the Kansas City Chiefs to the White House to make up for the 2020 Super Bowl victory celebration, which was canceled during the pandemic.
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Associated Press writer Heather Hollingsworth contributed to the report.
